Generation Ratify

Generation Ratify derives its name from its aim of ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment, a proposed constitutional amendment that would stipulate that “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.” Thee amendment was adopted by Congress and submitted to the states of the union for ratification, though a legislated deadline for ratification has since passed without sufficient state ratifications. However, left-of-center legal activists and organizations, particularly the Equal Rights Amendment Coalition, claim that the deadline is legally irrelevant and that it is still possible to ratify the amendment. ^{2 3 4}

Background

Generation Ratify was founded by students Rosie Couture and Belan Yeshigeta in July 2019. Soon after its founding, one of the organization’s first initiatives was a phone bank event for Pro-Equal Rights Amendment candidate Sheila Bynum-Coleman (D), then running for a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates. To that end, in August 2019, the organization held a “Gender Equality Day” party where, among other things, participants wrote postcards supporting Bynum-Coleman’s campaign. Eventually, however, Bynum-Coleman lost her election. ^{1 5}

The organization consists largely of student groups. ¹

Abortion Activism

In addition to organizing rallies and school walkouts generally in support of abortion and opposing anti-abortion legislation and developments, Generation Ratify specifically supports the EACH Act (H.R. 2234, S. 1021), which would reverse the Hyde Amendment, allowing federal funds to be spent on subsidizing abortions though Medicaid, Medicare, and other government healthcare programs; as well as the Women’s Health Protection Act (H.R. 3755, S. 1975), which would virtually create a statutory right to abortion on-demand, overruling many states’ laws regarding mandatory waiting periods, counseling, and ultrasounds. ^{6 7 8}

Fiscal Sponsor

The fiscal sponsor of Generation Ratify is the Action Network, a left-of-center advocacy group based in Washington, D.C., that was created during the Occupy Wall Street protests in 2011. Action Network helps ideologically aligned member organizations and projects to organize, fundraise, and circulate petitions. Notably, the Action Network was used to organize the Women’s March, environmentalist protests against the Keystone XL pipeline, and the March for Our Lives events supporting gun control. ^{9 10}